The results

Ironman 70.3 Princeton Results

At first I wasn't ready to scour the results from the race last weekend and I still don't care *that* much, probably because I didn't do that well. If I'd done as well as I'd hoped, I'd be all dancing around and singing about my place in my age group or whatever. Instead, I'm just laying out the facts to have for future reference.


29th in my age group out of 62, not bad!




The swim course, 38:33


The bike course, forever.



The run course, two loops and my slowest half ever, 2:05

posted from Bloggeroid

2014 Princeton Ironman 70.3

"Move outta my way, I want to sit down"

The big day has come and gone and I have the sore legs, shoulders and butt to prove it. Sunday, September 21st was the first annual half Ironman in Princeton, NJ and as a new race, I think it was well organized and safe. Whatever small gripes I may have, those two qualities matter more than anything else to me. Spoiler alert: I finished the race.
Despite being hit with a head cold Saturday morning, the weekend itself was fun, I was surrounded by friends and my hubby in beautiful Princeton on Saturday evening and we had lots of laughs and a good dinner. We were all checked in with our bikes waiting for us in the transition area overnight so we only had to worry about our actual race gear in the morning: clothes, shoes x2, helmet, sunglasses, cap/goggles and water bottles/snacks. There's so much crap to bring to a tri.
I had one little hiccup at the check-in on Saturday, I brought my bike to transition before picking up my packet, which meant I had to turn around and walk back to the car and across the park and then repeat my trip to transition.. Oops. Otherwise things went smoothly and it was well organized.

Out of the water, happy to have my cap off

Race morning was no different, I rode from the hotel with Baker, Doug, Susan and Eric (race support crew!) and we parked in the woods and got ourselves ready to rock. Despite the 1+ hour wait time between the time transition closed and our swim waves, I managed to stay pretty relaxed. It was great to have friends to keep me company while we watched the pros and everyone ahead of us swim by. The lake looked really long, but it was marked really well with tons of numbered buoys in different colors so you always knew right where you were. I've swum in Mercer County Lake a few times before, but this was much longer than the sprint distances I've done before. When our wave finally took off at 8:18, I was happy to have friends nearby, Amanda, Cathy, and Susan were all in my wave. The water was sort of perfect, I think it was around 70 degrees and overcast so there wasn't any glare. I remember thinking that this was one of my favorite swims in a triathlon, despite the shallow lake and murky water. The buoys cruised by and most of the time I had plenty of space to swim. After about 6 buoys I was fully immersed in the wave of yellow capped swimmers from the wave ahead of ours (we were green) and by the turnaround I was in a full out rainbow of caps. People from several waves before mine were doing diagonal backstroke and who knows what else. I weaved around and finished in 38: something. I was already a little behind schedule, but only a few minutes off my target of 35:00 or less. I took off into transition, bypassing the wetsuit strippers because I wasn't wearing one, but they always make me giggle as they're pulling the suits off of people.

Early on, looking alive and well.

I even smiled for this one!

I started the bike off strong, really strong. I think I hit the halfway mark at 1:33, which was excellent. I was cruising along thinking that the course was a bit boring, but beautiful and mostly flat. There were a few quick, steep hills during the ride, but compared to my NYC rides and Adirondack rides, it was nothing. I was snacking and sipping water along the way, having a lovely time in the cornfields and horse farms of Mercer County, but something changed along the way. Perhaps it was a sign that I hadn't finished even one bottle of water when I exchanged my bottle at mile 45 or so, but it's hard to judge how hot it is when you're riding 17 mph and I think I just let it slip. I thought I was hydrating, I even took a salt tab, but I realize now that may have been a mistake. I was also feeling my head cold more now because I didn't take sudafed in the morning because it seemed like a bad idea. So there I was, fading on the bike with no idea why and getting cranky about it. My heart rate was high, especially for how slow I was going and I was sick of being out there alone on the bike. I was surprised how few people were around me for long stretches of the ride, making the country roads even more boring. In one little crowd of people on a bumpy stretch of road (there were many of those) a girl had the nerve to tell me I could get a penalty for riding too far to the left (I was avoiding potholes just like everyone else in the crowd) AS SHE PASSED ME ON THE RIGHT SIDE! WHAT?! I turned to her and said "There's also a penalty for passing on the right!" as she went by. What an idiot. Her response was "what did you want me to do?" as she rode over the bumps and potholes we were all avoiding.

Late in the race, looking...special. 

I told you there were cornfields.

After some serious misery on the final 10 miles of the bike, including the extra two because the course was long, it was time to get running. I was having some bad left knee pain from obviously tight hip and ITB, but luckily it went away as soon as I got off. I have never been so happy to see the "dismount" sign. I trotted through transition, switched my shoes clumsily and hit the road... Still hopeful about my time. I say that because I was oblivious to the time and didn't realize that the second half of the bike took nearly 2 hours. I felt fine at the start of the run, I was just so happy to be off the bike. I made a quick pee stop early on and glanced at my watch, I was 4:15 into the race, I was surprised and realized how far off I was from a goal time or even from breaking 6 hrs, but I was hopeful. I got about 3/4 mile into the run when I hit a wall. Oof. I pushed myself to reach the 1 mile marker and walked for a minute or so. I did a systems check and found the usual aches and pains (hips, lower back) and general thirst. I got running again and made sure to drink water at each aid station. I felt well fueled, but grabbed some pretzels anyway and trotted on. Things went up and down for the rest of the race. I was so thirsty and hot, but there were tons of people walking and talking about the heat, but I didn't think about dehydration. I'm not sure what I thought about.... Mostly getting to the finish line so I could SIT DOWN. I was going through every emotion along the way. I was angry for a while, mostly at myself then the course, then my bike (for what, I'm not sure). Then I was just bummed. Soo bummed to be missing my goal after training so hard and for so long. I was disappointed and I was sad that Baker was going to be disappointed with the hard work he put into my training plan all summer. I know that's not the case, but looking back that's what I remember. The run was a 2 loop course, meaning we ran by the turn off to the finish line but had 6.5 mi left. I may have thought some things that aren't appropriate to share. I was grumpy and still thirsty. I'd been soaking myself and drinking at nearly every aid station. I was determined to run as much of the second loop as possible, but I have no idea if that happened. I set small goals along the way, "make it to mile 10 and you can walk" or "run until you get to the aid station with the potato chips". These little things got me through. On the bike I'd been dedicating 5 mile chunks to Baker, Joe, Amanda and others, but on the run I couldn't focus long enough to do that. I thought about the kids I work with and how hard they work to make gains and that helped me along for a bit. By mile 8 I was chatting with the other walkers (Oh, there were LOTS of people walking, possibly more than there were running) and telling them this was my last 70.3. I realize now that I was probably a little nutty. I saw the photos and I looked like crap. I wonder if that's why the aid station worker at mile 8 asked if I could count to 4. I told her I could, but didn't feel like it.

Not looking good, just... not good. 

Finally, I was slogging through the last mile (uphill!?!) when I heard a girl asking a volunteer if she could just stop. He told her the finish was less than half a mile away and she said "you're not lying to me, right?" I recognized her as someone I'd been running back and forth with the whole time, she had bright purple and orange shoes and I wasn't letting her quit. I turned and told her to "come on" and she smiled. She said I'd been pacing her the whole way. Obviously she was delusional too. By now I'd had a lot of water and gatorade and was feeling somewhat more alive. We ran together for the better part of the last mile before she drifted off behind me, cheering me on. I turned into the chute, the longest chute on earth, and trotted along until I could *finally* see the finish. Dave called my name just before the finish and I managed to give him a tiny smile. There was no fanfare at the finish, I just wanted to get through the swarm to sit down! I caught up with Susan and then Dave and Eric and we tracked down Baker and Doug and FINALLY I got to sit down. It was amazing. It was the best feeling in the world to just stop moving for the first time in 6 hours and 21 minutes. Or however long it took. I'll do a separate post of stats. This has gone on long enough already.

Really just happy to be done. 

posted from Bloggeroid

2014 excitement and The Sports Gene

Planning for 2014 just went from "oh, we'll see..." right to "It's ON" in a short period of time. I got accepted via lottery to the NYC Tri in August a few weeks ago and a few days ago IRONMAN announced a new 70.3 race in Princeton, NJ for next September. The buzz started slowly with a text from a friend in NJ that simply stated "Princeton half ironman in Sept". I thought "oh, maybe" but let it slip into the back of my mind. Then a conversation among tri friends on twitter sprung up with my name attached. I thought briefly about it again, but that was all for a few days. Then the email from Ryan's Quest came yesterday and I read it twice. Were they really offering a charity spot for this race with no minimum fundraising requirement?? I let it settle all day on Monday, it was a busy day and sometime during my hour with my personal trainer in the evening it occurred to me that this is a great opportunity. It's a half ironman within an hour of my mom's house in NJ and probably really flat. I mentioned it to my trainer and she gave me a "sure, you crazy person" look (she's a 200&400m sprinter so 70+ miles... Well, yeah). On the way home I composed a quick email to RQ, a charity dedicated to funding research for Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy, who I've raced and fundraised for in the past in conjunction with the NJ State Tri. They're an incredible group of people who came together to help a family with an adorable son who has DMD. I'll be psyched to have the opportunity to race with them if I can. I will probably know tonight if I responded quickly enough to get a spot, but in the meantime I'm all aflutter at the idea. I love racing, I love triathlons and thinking about next season has me so excited that I can hardly sleep. I have a feeling 2014 is going to be a big year for fast times for me.
Oh, and the good book I mentioned- The Sports Gene by David Epstein. I started this book a few months ago and have gone back to it between book club books, but this time I'm completely hooked. It's so nerdy and packed with stories of incredible athletes and their amazing genetic makeups, I can't stop reading. The idea that certain people are "gifted" is actually so, so, so complex and reading about it has me all pumped to figure out my own potential. If you're at all inclined towards the sciences and athletics, I recommend you give it a read. It's tough in spots, especially if you don't have an understanding of genetics, but I don't think those parts are completely essential to understanding the underlying concepts. It's a long book but there are parts that are so interesting that I'm almost willing to miss my subway stop to keep reading.

Here's a blurb from the Amazon review:

The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor’s training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research.In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle. He investigates the so-called 10,000-hour rule to uncover whether rigorous and consistent practice from a young age is the only route to athletic excellence.Along the way, Epstein dispels many of our perceptions about why top athletes excel. He shows why some skills that we assume are innate, like the bullet-fast reactions of a baseball or cricket batter, are not, and why other characteristics that we assume are entirely voluntary, like an athlete’s will to train, might in fact have important genetic components.This subject necessarily involves digging deep into sensitive topics like race and gender. Epstein explores controversial questions such as:

• Are black athletes genetically predetermined to dominate both sprinting and distance running, and are their abilities influenced by Africa’s geography?

• Are there genetic reasons to separate male and female athletes in competition?

• Should we test the genes of young children to determine if they are destined for stardom?

• Can genetic testing determine who is at risk of injury, brain damage, or even death on the field?

How can you resist?!

photo credit: npr.org

posted from Bloggeroid

Recovering faster, getting stronger, staying healthy.

These are all things that I always strive for after a big race, though it seems to have come easier this time around. I took it easy last week for a few days after the 70.3, but by Wednesday I was itching to run again. I held off until Thursday to give myself time to recover not just from the race, but also to adapt to returning to work after nearly a month off. I think a month is long enough to forget exactly how physically demanding my job is. I might as well count it as working out for the whole day. I actually lost weight the first week back, despite not doing much more than walking until Thursday night. Once Thursday afternoon rolled around, I was beyond excited to run again and felt like I could run forever (if it hadn't been for that insane thunderstorm, I might have!). I attribute this to my solid recovery plan. I stepped up my fruit, veggie, vitamin and probiotic intake on Monday and got myself a full 8 or more hours of sleep almost every night since the race. One difficult thing about working with so many children is that my exposure to germs is very, very high. Many of my kids have difficulty swallowing and therefore have trouble controlling their saliva and, well, I tend to get drooled on. It happens, I just have to be hyper-vigilant about keeping myself clean in order to stay healthy (same for the kids!) especially after a big race where my immunity is already compromised. The research is there, we're more susceptible to getting sick right after a big endurance event. Pair that with the first weeks of school and you've got trouble!
Sleep, eat your veggies, wash your hands, repeat.
In addition to resting up and trying to stay healthy, I'm hoping to maintain my fitness and build on it for a strong fall/winter. Since my training load dipped way down I have more time to focus on the things that get tossed out the Window when I'm busy- mainly strength training. I went to the gym on Monday and did some strength work, puttering around the weight room trying to remember what I'm supposed to do, when I finally decided to ask for help. I'd been considering a personal trainer for a while, but was reluctant to pull the trigger. I thought I could just do it myself, I am a PT, after all... But no. I'm pathetic and need some new ideas and someone to give me feedback on what I'm doing. Sure, I could do it myself if I really hunkered down and brought some sheets of exercises to the gym, but the odds of following through with that are slim. So slim. Anyway, I met a trainer who is also a runner and got a mischievous look in her eye when I mentioned wanting some plyos, core work and targeted strengthening for running and swimming. I think I'm in for an ass kicking tomorrow, but I'm actually looking forward to it, which is more than I can say usually. She was excited that I could do squats, push ups, step ups, bridges on a ball because apparently most people can't do those things. Bring it on! I'll let you know if I can walk on Saturday morning.

posted from Bloggeroid

Toughman Half, Part 2

                              

I left off in Part 1 after what felt like a spectacular 56mi bike ride, despite the return of the right knee pain devil and some other completely weird aches and pains. Luckily for me these pains tend to disappear once I'm off the bike, so I was really glad when that happened right on cue on Sunday. 

I'm going to be honest right from the start: I didn't pay enough attention to the elevation profile of the run portion of this race. I'm sure I looked at it long ago, saw the hills, shrugged them off and never looked again. It turns out there's a reason for the name "Toughman" and I suspect that has everything to do with the fact that you run around the base of the new Croton dam and then make your way several hundred feet up to the top. I'm getting ahead of myself though.

The run started out great! My friends Erin and Mookie (is that the right spelling? No idea) were cheering like crazy for me in the first half mile and Erin trotted with me for a bit, checking in. That was really nice, and then I was on my own for a bit. I trotted along, really feeling good for a mile or 3, running into my bike buddy, Carolyn, but losing her somewhere in the Van Cortlandt Manor as I trotted on ahead on the shaded, soft, mulch trail.  My legs loosened quickly and I was ready to crush it....until the nausea hit. I felt sluggish and sloshy and worst of all, I needed to burp but couldn't. I tried to make myself burp, but that was too close to making me nearly hurl. I went through a LOT of long, uphill miles on dirt and road with a horrendous mental battle against the nausea, a pain in my left upper ribs and the hills. The worst part was that my legs felt GREAT, they wanted to tear up those hills, but I was hurting and doubting from the waist up. The pain in my chest/ribs/stomach on the left side was alarming. Sometimes I hate knowing anatomy so well because I was going through a checklist of what could be wrong. Several miles went along like this in my head:

"You're probably having a heart attack, you have pain in your left shoulder. You might want to stop." 

"No, it's gas, just keep going." 

"I'm definitely dying."

"I should stop and find help."

"Okay, I'm just going to walk to that tree....oh, the pain is gone. Hmm, not dying." 

It went on and on like this for quite some time, with me dying to burp or hurl or some combination of the two until I hit an aid station and a very small child gave me a salt tab and flat Pepsi at the top of the dam. I was walking here and there, just absolutely miserable, but in good company because so was everyone else. I have never seen so many people walking and we were not slow runners. The hills were grueling and once my stomach settled, I reminded myself that this was MY race. I had a piece of duct tape on my bike that said just that, it was a reminder not to follow anyone else's lead in this race but my own. I refused to stop and walk just because others were walking up the most ridiculous hill around mile 9 because I knew I had the legs for it. I walked the section between two cones on that hill, about 8 ft, and never stopped running again. The last few miles were great because the course tucked back into the trails and was quiet, and suddenly I was all alone. The applesauce packet I'd been holding the ENTIRE TIME became the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted, though I still sipped gingerly, worried it might fight back (it didn't). I hadn't taken in a single calorie the entire run until that point. I'd passed a number of my old walking mates as I regained my mojo and was running through neighborhoods and Van Cortlandt Manor on my own. There were a ton of aid stations on the run and it was fun to pass them again and hear "wow, you're looking strong!!" Once I got back to the road section with a little over a mile to go, I could really feel the heat, despite dumping tons of water over my head and back along the way. Bless those lovely people with the sprinkler who held it up so I could wash some of the salt from my face as I ran by. The final 2 miles included a nasty uphill, a road crossing at a big intersection (thank you Croton Police Dept!) and the sunny and hot train overpass and park drive. I ran toward the murmurs I knew to be a finish line announcer, but I have to say it was difficult. I was going through an assortment of reactions to what I'd just done. There was the initial "well, I'm never doing that again" followed by a little disappointment in my time (I had no idea what I was getting into and hoped for sub 5:50) but luckily that was followed quickly by the realization of how challenging the course was. We'll call that the moment of acceptance. I had Erin and Mookie cheering again with about 0.2 to go and I was searching for Dave and his camera, but didn't see him. I was briefly worried that he'd miss my finish, but he was waiting on the other side of the finish line to get great pics. I bolted down the grassy finish chute, so, so happy to be finished and stop moving forward. 70.3 miles and 6+ hours is a long time to be moving your body forward. I have so much more respect for Ironmen and Ironwomen now that I have an appreciation for what it feels like to do HALF that distance. Whew.

So the run was hideous, I think I'd really enjoy running that course with a settled stomach and without stabbing pain in my shoulder because it was truly beautiful. For the record, I knew it wasn't a heart attack or anything serious (just gas! Ha!) or I really would have stopped and sought help, I'm not an idiot. 

As a sub 1:38 half marathoner, it pains me to share these stats, but here they are anyway: 

I still managed 7th in my age group on the run, which goes to show you what terrible runners triathletes are. Ha! 

2:04, ugh. 

Elevation gain was no joke at 1223 ft, also the same amount lost ( ouch, downhill makes me nauseous on a good day)

My first and last miles were exactly the same at 8:15! Things were real ugly around mile 6. 

While I've moved on and am pretty proud of my accomplishment, I'm still annoyed that my stomach nearly did me in. I have lots to work on in terms of fueling and over-hydrating. I am most happy with the fact that I definitely had the legs for this race, they weren't the least bit cranky the entire time. I'm curious now how much I can improve on a flatter course with a better fueling plan. 

I recovered so quickly that I was a completely normal person by Wednesday and have forgotten most of the terrible bits and am secretly hoping to find one more late season race in the area... 

                                   

    

Fuel for the long road ahead.

I've been scouring Pinterest and trying various granola bar recipes for months now and each time I try one I pin it and write myself notes, but I finally decided to put my own recipe together. These are currently in the fridge so I'll have to update later after I cut them. I hope they're not too crumbly.

As I start my 16 week 70.3 (Half Ironman distance triathlon) training plan, I know I'll need lots of quick snacks on hand for the long road ahead. These bars are packed with good, whole ingredients and really keep me full after a morning in the water when I need to be on my feet at work. They have a fair amount of fiber between the oats and chia seeds, so be careful if you're not used to that or if you have a sensitive stomach. You can always cut down or out the Chia seeds and just use regular oats instead of the multigrain mix. 

The main ingredients you'll need:

3 cups old fashioned oats (I use half rolled oats and half multigrain mix from Trader Joes)

1 cup natural peanut butter (melted slightly if it's cold)

1/2 cup honey

1-2 tbsp coconut oil

Pick and choose from these add ons or add your own!

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1/3 cup walnuts or pecans

1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds

Small handfuls of dried fruits, I used golden berry mix from TJ's and dried cherries (my favorite)

1tbsp Chia seeds

1tbsp ground flax seeds (I forgot to add them, so I sprinkled on top)

1/4 cup Wheat germ (I didn't use it this time)

Step 1. Add oats, chia, nuts, coconut, died fruit, seeds, etc. Leave the chocolate chips out for now. 

 

Step 2. Add 2 tbsp Coconut oil (mine was already melted because it is summer, but you should warm it up if it isn't already). 

Step 3. Measure 1 cup PB and 1/2 cup honey. Silicone bowls are the best invention ever. 

Melt the peanut butter if it is hard from the fridge. I wouldn't try to use anything other than natural PB, but mostly because I think Jiffy is gross. I used a new jar from the cabinet,so the PB was already melty enough. 

Step 4. Mix dry ingredients gently and then add PB and honey. I mix it with a spoon once before turning on the mixer. 

 Mix everything for about 30 secs, or watch while your magical Kitchen Aid does it for you. 

Step 5. Add chocolate chips and mix some more. If you heat your PB and coconut oil too much it'll melt the chips so let the mix cool before adding them. 

Step 6. Line a baking dish with wax paper, use a smaller dish for thick bars or a larger one for thinner bars. Pour in the mix and press it down onto the wax paper with a spatula. Press hard until you have it smooshed as much as you'd like. Mine is always an odd shape, but who cares?

Step 7. Refrigerate for several hours. Sometimes I leave it overnight and cut them in the morning. Lift the wax paper out onto a cutting board and slice them up into little bars. If it seems crumbly, let it chill longer. Store in an airtight container with layers of wax paper between sections. In the summer I keep the, in the fridge because they get soft. 

Enjoy! Let me know if you try these and if you add anything else. 

It's dead.

I've finally admitted defeat, my ankle has beat me once again and I am canceling my plans to do the Pocono Mountain Half Ironman. I signed up for the race nearly a year ago and had been really looking forward to it for most of the season. I planned my year around it, not starting the tri season too early in an effort to avoid peaking before October 2nd. I have now bagged two races and plenty of $$ as a result of my injury, but the $ wasted isn't worth racing on a *nearly* healed ankle and throwing away the 12 weeks I've spent trying to get this thing better. In the end it could cost me several more MONTHS if I re-injure it and it would probably require surgery. The reality is too obvious to ignore anyway, I haven't run in 6 or 7 weeks and even if I were cleared to run today that isn't enough time to train for the half marathon after the swim and bike.
Yes, I'm bummed that I can't do the race and that I still can't run, but there is literally nothing I can do about it. There isn't even anything I could have done to push my rehab along faster. It is out of my control and I have simply accepted that. There will be another race next year and the year after that and the year after.... Right now I'm focused on getting stronger and staying fit for the moment that I can run again! I'm going to go back to the ankle specialist later this month with my fingers and toes crossed that this thing shows improvement on the big screen. It doesn't really feel that much better, unfortunately, but I am hoping that most of the pain is attributed to the tendinitis around the joint and not the ligament itself.
In other training news, I've been working hard at all sorts of other aspects of fitness including strength and flexibility. You know, those things most of us runners skip over and avoid like the plague. I've been doing two-a-day workouts twice a week with cardio early in the morning and core/strength in the evening with the Inwood Hill Runners DL. I'm feeling strong and beat up at the same time. I'll also be back at that yoga class on Friday morning, making a pretzel of myself in an attempt to get stronger, longer and more balanced.

posted from Bloggeroid

Learning to Tri

Last year I dipped my feet in the Triathlon world, testing a toe at first with a sprint, then getting all wet in the Hudson at the NYC Triathlon. I was using an online coach at the time (turns out that's not for me) but to be honest, I really had no idea what I was doing. I put the 3 sports together, did pretty well and had fun but I don't feel like I can say that I took it as seriously as I take running.
Here's what I mean; I am fully immersed in the running world and have been for years. I know the terminology, the stars, the underdogs, the techniques that work for building speed vs distance etc. Running is my comfort bubble, it's.an old friend, a well worn sweatshirt. The time has come to step out of my bubble and get serious in the same way about the Triathlon. 2011 is my year to kick some triathlon butt, so I'd better start learning the ropes.
Here are some things I've learned so far from various sources :
-Us regular folks are commonly referred to as "age groupers"
-Chris McCormack aka Macca won Kona in 2010 and is hereby "the man! "
-Mirinda "Rinny" Carfrae won Kona for the women and therefore shall be my role model for the year.
-Both Of them have a LOT of sponsors, every other Ad in Triathlete magazine features one of them.
-Both Macca and Rinny are Aussies who appear to be kicking our butts in the tri. The first American male at Kona was 11th, first female was 8th.
-Doing An Ironman while working full time and raising kids gets some serious respect.
-There's A kids section at the back of USA Triathlon Life magazine. The stories about youth tris and the mini competitors are really great. It's awesome to see a sport embrace kids so much.

I know I'm barely scratching the surface of the Triathlon world with this, but it's exciting territory. Do you remember when you first started up something new like running? Everything is new, exciting and you want to learn all that you can. That's where I am right now with the tri.

As for my training, I haven't had the time or motivation to really train more than a few times for the Empire State Building run up, so I'm "winging it" on Tuesday. Training was painful and kept me benched for a few days afterwards, and I can't afford that. I'm too worried about injuring my knee training which would suck. There will definitely be a "race" report next week!

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